Coal-washing machine



UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICEO SAMUEL DIESGHER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

COAL-WASHING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 283,404, dated October 19, 1880.

Application led February 24, 1880.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL DIEscHER, of Pittsburg,in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Goal and Ore Washing and Separating Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it pertains to make and useit, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specication, and in which- Figure 1 shows a vertical central section of my improved machine; and Fig. 2 is a similar sectional view, but taken in a plane at right angles to that of Fig. 1.

My invention relates to that class of coal and ore washing machines in which a verticallymoving plunger is arranged directly under the screen and it consists in the arrangement of a separating-box on the screen, having side openings, through which the slate or other heavy materials are passed to a separate discharge, and also in constructing the plunger with sloping wallswhich converge to or toward a given point,whereby the fine sedimentfalling through the screen is collected in this lowest or depressed part of the plunger, from which it is regularly and automatically discharged by a 3o jet of water.

Machines of this class have heretofore been made with a nat-faced plunger, on the surface of which the fine sediment falling through the screen loads or piles up to such extent as to seriously impair or prevent the proper workin g of the machine. Various expedients have heretofore been resorted to in order to clear the plunger of such accumulations, but without practical success, and as a consequence masired size and depth, the bottom of which is given a V form, with an opening at its lowest point, as clearly shown in Fig. l; or the bottom may be made iiat, as in Fig. 2. Within this box is secured a screen, C, which is arranged in the usual way a little below the delivery edge m. Upon this screen is arranged a separating-box, e, which will presently be described.

Below the screen C, I arrange my improved plunger B, the sides of which slope or converge toward a central point, like au ordinary hopper. At the lowest point of depression in the plunger is made an opening, b, which may discharge directly into the bottom of the main box A, or through a iiexible pipe, p, into a side chamber, D, Fig. 2. This side chamber is used as a water-reservoir, and it may be supplied by any suitable means.

A valve, K, opens and closes a water-supply port leading from chamber D to the under side of plunger B, and similar valves and ports l Z, arranged in any desired number in the sloping sides of the plunger, permit water to pass from the under to the upper side as it descends; but as it ascends these valves seat, closing their ports, and the water is forced upward in the usual way and for the usual purpose. A small part of the water will, however, escape through the opening b as the plunger ascends, and in so doing will carry with it the tine sediment which falls from the screen above, since, owin g to the sloping sides or the hopper shape of the plunger, such sediment tends to gather at this point of lowest depression, and by removing or carrying it off by the action of the water while it is, so to speak, held in suspension, I keep the plunger free and in good working condition.

I am aware that the surface of plungers arranged under the screen have been made sloping from side to side, so as to discharge the sediment over the boundary edge; but in such case the action or pulsation of .the water is greater upon one side of the screen than upon the other, and the plunger is smaller in area than the screen; also, holes have been made through the plunger to prevent a tendency to form avacuum below; but none of these structures embody the feature of my invention which I have above described.

IOO

The arran gementand operation of the valves K and lcausc the apparatus to work on the principle of a pump in forcing Water upward through the screen, and by making the transverse area of the plunger equal or about equal to the screen, and without any escape for the water above it, except upward through the screen and downward through opening b, I secure the greatest possible uniformity of action on the screen, and at the same time prevent the accumulation of sediment on the plunger-face.

The plunger may be arranged to slide or move within the sides A of the main box in any suitable Way, and vertical reciprocating motion may be given to it by means of rods a, which extend upward from a suitable attachment with the rim of the plunger, and con neet at their upper ends with pivoted levers, which may be actuated by cam motion, as shown in Fig. 1, or in other usual or desired way.

I will now describe the means which l employ for effecting a separation and discharge of the parts of the material operated on.

As before stated, a box, e, is employed,which is rectangular in form, a longitudinal section being shown in Fig. 1 and a cross-section in Fig. 2. This box rests on the screen, and extends froln the discharging side m to or a little beyond the center of the screen. A discharge-opening is made at the level of the screen through the side m, and side openings, f., are made near its inner end, and, if desired, adjustable slides or doors may be iitted to open these passages to the desired extent by movement upward.

The box may be closed on its top, as shown, or it lnay be left open; but in the latter case the sides of the box should be extended upward above the level of the discharging edge m.

'lhe materials to be separated are fed in any convenient way onto the screen next to the side n. The pulsations in the Water, caused by the movements in the plunger, agitate and spread the materials out over the surface of the screen, and at the same time cause the heavier parts or constituents to take the lower stratum next to the screen, while the lighter materials are on top. As the space above the screen becomes filled a comparatively perfect separation takes place between the light and heavy substances until at length these lighter materials are discharged over the edge of m into a suitable receptacle, while the heavier materials pass through the openings f to the interior of box e, and thence are discharged through the outlet in m.

In washing coal the slate, sulphur, and similar impurities, being heavy, pass out through the box e, and the clean coal is discharged over the edge of m. In the case of ore the quartz and similar rock, being lightest, are discharged over m, and the ore passes out through box e.

By increasing or diminishing the size of openings f by slides, as above described, they may be adjusted to pass a greater or less amount of material, as desired, which adjustment may be made with reference to the amount of impurities contained in the material to be operated on.

I claim herein as my invention- 1. In a coal and ore washing machine, a hopper-shaped plunger, B, having therein an open port at its point of' lowest depression, and valvegoverned ports l, in any desired number, through its sloping side walls, in combination with screen C, arranged directly over the plunger, and mechanism for imparting to the plunger reciprocating motion toward and from the screen, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a coal and ore washing machine, the combination of a plunger, B, a screen, C, and box e, resting on the screen, such box extend in g from the edge of the screen inward to or near to its center, and having openingsfon its inner end and a discharge at its outer end, substantially as and for the purposes described.

Witnesses: SAML. DIESUHER.

It. H. WHITTLESEY, C. L. PARKER. 

